AIMS AND OBJECTIVES:

to  represent  a  problem  description  given  in  natural  language  as  an  (Enhanced)  Entity- Relationship model

This is an individual Assignment.  You are not permitted to work as a group when writing this assignment. You are also not permitted to use any generate AI platforms to complete this assignment.

Copying, Plagiarism: Plagiarism is the submission of somebody else’s work in a manner that gives the impression that the work is your own.  The Department of Computer Science and Information Technology treats plagiarism very seriously.  When it is detected, penalties are strictly imposed.

No extensions will be given: Penalties are applied to late assignments (5% of total assignment mark is deducted per day, accepted up to 5 days after the due date only). If there are circumstances that prevent the assignment being submitted on time, an application for special consideration may be made. See Student Handbook for details. Note that delays caused by computer downtime cannot be accepted as a valid reason for a late submission without penalty.  Students must plan their work to allow for both scheduled and unscheduled downtime.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:

This assignment is to be submitted in soft-copy (either PDF or JPEG) format using the CSE2DBF submission link on LMS, by 11:59 pm Sunday September 03, 2023.   The submission link can be found under “Assignment 1 – Part 1” component in the “Assessment” section of the subject’s LMS page.

SUBMISSION CHECKLIST:

Your (Enhanced) Entity-Relationship Model (EER) for the proposed database

Students are referred to the Department of Computer  Science  and  Information Technology’s Handbook and policy documents about plagiarism and assignment return, and also to the section of ‘Academic Integrity’ on the subject learning guide.

PROBLEM DESCRIPTION:

Dealership Database System

Archie’s Luxury Motors is a car dealership that specializes in high-end luxury vehicles in addition to offering the biggest selection of local and international vehicles from the world’s most popular manufacturers in all price brackets. Rather than being situated in the middle of the hustle and bustle of a large metropolis, Archie's Luxury Motors enjoys an idyllic rural setting in the beautiful open countryside.

The  dealership  currently  records  its  data  manually,  keeping  records  in  hardcopy,  with individual files being held for different car sale transactions. This process is slow, laborious, and not very secure. As repeating fields and human error are being attributed to most of the errors occurring, this reflects badly on the company’s image. The dealership would therefore like to turn its manually kept information into a computerized database to help automate processes. In addition, at this point in time due to the amount of manual transactions, there is a large cost associated with keeping track of the cars currently in the dealership’spossession. The owner, Archie, would like to reduce the losses and cut down unwanted costs and expenses by keeping track  of all  car  sale  transactions  and  information  regarding  the  dealership’s customers  and  sales  agents.  To  do  this  effectively,  Archie  has  decided  to  automate  all administrative duties in relation to the process of recording car sale transactions and car display shows.

Currently, when a customer is first interested in purchasing a car from the dealership, they complete a form that contains their personal details along with their desired car features (see Appendix 1 – “New Customer Questionnaire Form"). The dealership’s business premise is to match cars with customers based on the features that a car has, and the features that a customer desires. The form lists the most common car features, such as, keyless start, fuel type, etc., but the complete list is far more extensive. For each feature, the dealership records an ID of the feature, a  short description, and the category of the feature (e.g., comfort & convenience, safety & security, etc.). Alternatively, some customers are motoring enthusiasts and leave the features section blank on the form. Instead, they inquire directly to the sales agent about which car they are after.

Furthermore, the dealership not only records which features a car contains, but also its model and the car manufacturer. In the car industry, many manufacturers follow what is known as a ‘product line architecture ’. This means that rather than wasting time and money on a brand- new model design, the manufacturer would rather make small changes to an already market- tested model. For each model, its model number, name, and type must be recorded (e.g., sedan, 4WD, etc.) and its previous model, if applicable. For each manufacturer, its name and region (i.e., Europe, Asia, Oceania, etc.) must be recorded.

Archie offers a VIP program where customers can subscribe to become VIPs of the dealership. This program is designed to entice  customers to have a long-term relationship with the company. In addition, the dealership organizes gala dinner every month where all VIPs are invited.

Once the customer has decided to purchase a specific vehicle after conversing with one of the dealership’s sales agents, a Bill Of Sale is completed to follow regulations (see Appendix 2 – “Vehicle Bill Of Sale Form"). The car’s 17-digit VIN number is recorded, along with the customer’s and sales agent’s details.

In addition to the fields contained in Appendix 2, the dealership also keeps track of the date that the car entered the dealership, the price that the dealership paid for the car, and the price that the car is on sale for.

At the dealership, there is a hierarchy amongst the sales agents. Senior agents are the most experienced and best negotiators. Each senior agent is assigned to supervise at least one junior agent. Each junior agent has only one supervisor. When a junior agent is promoted to senior, the date of promotion must be recorded. For all sales agents, their ID, name, and date ofbirth are also recorded.

Given that the dealership is situated on an extensive block of land, Archie decided to construct a multi-million-dollar car showroom and test track to boost revenue. The dealership offers the chance for a group of people (known as a Viewing Party) to come and view/test drive exotic cars on premise (see Appendix 3 – “Viewing Party Form"). To boost market research, Archie offers special deals to viewing parties who are part of an organization or those who are international guests. It is important to note that some cars are so breathtaking that it is common for the same viewing party to view a particular car more than once.

TASKS:

1. You are required to develop an EER model for the above problem description. The EER should  contain  all  necessary  information  such  as  entities,  attributes,  primary  keys, relationships  (including  specialization/union  if  any),  cardinalities,  and  participation (including (min, max)). Any assumptions should also be stated clearly. If assumptions are made, it is important to make sure that the assumptions reflect possible real practice for a similar business and do not contradict with the problem description above. Assignment should be typed, not written/drawn by hand. Use any software to draw figures in your assignment. However, make sure to follow the notations introduced in this subject. [100%]

Please note the following important points before you get started:

•    You are NOT required to transform your EER diagram into a set of tables for this part of the assignment.

•    You are also NOT required to perform normalization of the user views provided in the appendices. The forms in the appendices should be used as a source of supplementary information for this assignment. For example, Appendix  1 may give you  some  clarity  about  what  information  is  required  to  be  stored  for  a customer (among other things).